"America was founded on the principle that all men are created equal. Throughout our history we have not always lived up to that self-evident truth. This has been especially true in our criminal justice system."

"A federal grand jury has indicted the four former Minneapolis police officers involved in George Floyd's arrest and death accusing them of willfully violating the Black man's constitutional rights as he was restrained face-down on the pavement and gasping for air."

"An unusual coalition is banding together in a petition to release an 84-year-old former Black Panther convicted for his role in the killing of a police officer."

"Colorado's attorney general said Wednesday that a grand jury indicted three officers and two paramedics in the death of Elijah McClain a Black man who was put in a chokehold and injected with a powerful sedative two years ago in suburban Denver."

"State judge overturns earlier ruling orders police force to give Cariol Horne her backpay and pension."

"The Justice Department will launch an investigation into the Louisville Metro Police Department to determine if there is a pattern of discrimination or excessive force within its ranks Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Monday."

"President-elect Joe Biden will be under tremendous pressure to take action toward greater racial justice throughout the country on Day 1 of his presidency following massive nationwide protests sparked by the police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor along with other incidents of violence against Black Americans."

"The U.N. human rights chief on Tuesday welcomed a pledge by U.S. President Joe Biden to work towards abolishing the death penalty in the United States."

"A second local prosecutor on Thursday asked the U.S. Justice Department to have his name removed from a controversial report on policing reforms saying he feared it would fail to address systemic racism in the criminal justice system."

"Vice President Harris on Tuesday urged every American to do their part to confront racial injustice after a jury convicted former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin of murder in the death of George Floyd."

"The president promised one during his campaign. But civil rights groups and police union reps both said it wasn't necessary."

"The U.S. Supreme Court today refused to hear eight separate cases that had presented opportunities to reconsider its doctrine of qualified immunity. That doctrine created by the Supreme Court in 1982 holds that government officials can be held accountable for violating the Constitution only if they violate a clearly established constitutional rule. In practice that means that government officials can only be held liable if a federal court of appeals or the U.S. Supreme Court has already held that someone violated the Constitution by engaging in precisely the same conduct under precisely the same circumstances."

"The 21st Century law enforcement officer serves a variety of public service functions only some of which involve the enforcement of criminal laws. From some of those non-criminal public service roles the courts have recognized the community caretaking doctrine to authorize some limited stops and searches by officers that may not be related to criminal enforcement duties."

"U.S. Supreme Court justices returned to the contentious issue of police powers on Wednesday as they grappled with whether to make it easier for officers to enter a home without a warrant for reasons of health or public safety in a case involving the confiscation of a Rhode Island man's guns."

"The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday expanded the ability of people to sue police for excessive force ruling in favor of a New Mexico woman who filed a civil rights lawsuit after being shot by officers she had mistaken for carjackers."

"Justice Sonia Sotomayor in a blistering dissent Thursday hammered a 6-3 decision penned by Justice Brett Kavanaugh that rejected certain limits on juvenile life sentences."

"A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers on Thursday started talks on a police reform bill the day after Democratic President Joe Biden urged senators and representatives to act before the May 25 anniversary of George Floyd's murder by a Minneapolis policeman."

"Lawmakers are unclear precisely what the intelligence community currently considers legal given the classified nature of the operations."

"On Sunday Rep. Justin Amash announced plans to introduce the Ending Qualified Immunity Act. Qualified immunity shields police officers from civil liability for violating a civilian's constitutional rights in most circumstances. Reforming it is an important step toward holding law enforcement accountable for abuse of power. But Congress must also act to address the less-well-known but equally pernicious rules governing municipal liability. It's time to hold local governments accountable for police violence."

"The barbed debate over racial justice is exploding this week on Capitol Hill, as Democrats in both chambers are charging ahead with a host of proposals to empower minorities amid the national clash over police bias, brutality and the future of law enforcement."

"President Joe Biden and two of his top cabinet members on Wednesday promised U.S. economic and criminal justice reforms that would benefit Black communities at a conference organized by longtime activist Al Sharpton."

"Chief justices identify ways to implement reforms as part of modernization efforts"

The Minneapolis City Council on Monday approved an agreement with the federal government to overhaul the city's police training and use-of-force policies in the wake of the murder of George Floyd.

The passage of Prop 36 marks a return to harsher punishments for some drug and theft crimes. Advocates worry it will also lead to a surge in prison populations.

"A new survey released by the ABA on Thursday found stark divisions based on age and race when it comes to believing that there are racial biases built into the rules procedures and practices of the justice system."

"25 years ago in the shadows of Apartheid in South Africa the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was formed to properly address generations of racial injustice that had been all but ignored. It's time for the United States to do the same. In spite of all of our movements for change the thing we call the justice system in the United States has never been a reliable competent compassionate professional respectful tool for justice for tens of millions of Americans. Instead it has often been a cruel and oppressive force of injustice for African Americans Native Americans Latinos immigrants members of the LGBTQIA community and all marginalized communities. Consequently when marginalized people have needed to finally rely on this system for justice it has routinely failed them in the worst ways imaginable. This isn't a bug in the system but a feature. It's operating exactly the way it was designed and built to function. That's why we're imagining and building something new. Today in partnership with the District Attorneys of San Francisco Philadelphia and Boston we are announcing the formation of the Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission to actually process and address the injustices of the past that simply were not given the time attention and dignity that they deserved."

"NOBLE has been at the forefront of promoting police accountability since the organization's inception in 1976. NOBLE's mission is to ensure equity in the administration of justice and in the provision of public service to all communities and to serve as the conscience of law enforcement agencies and personnel by being committed to justice by action."

The ABA Journal is read by half of the nation's 1 million lawyers every month. It covers the trends, people and finances of the legal profession from Wall Street to Main Street to Pennsylvania Avenue.

America is in the midst of a police officer shortage. Agencies of all sizes are struggling to fill open positions.

The University of Arizona Innocence Project has received a $1.5 million grant from the Department of Justice to enhance its efforts in investigating wrongful convictions, particularly through DNA evidence analysis.